Tag Archives: El Cuartel

The other day I saw a bumper sticker that said, “My cat knows more about history than you do.” I don’t know what compels someone to slap that phrase on the back of their car, but it amused me. I have recently been focused on California history, filling in some gaps in what I have forgotten, or perhaps never knew in the first place, and the more I learn the more I realize I have more questions. I think the cat and I may be neck and neck.

All California 4th grade students get a smattering of history with a significant emphasis on the Mission period. And I live in San Gabriel, The City With a Mission, fourth in line of the 21 Spanish missions stretching from San Diego to Sonoma. I’ve had an interest in the missions for most of my life.

But gaps in my knowledge began to pop up this past spring while following an archaeological dig on property adjacent the San Gabriel Mission. Archaeologists and historians unearthed items representing life among the Gabrieleno Indians and Spanish mission life. Shards of pottery, coins and religious sacramental artifacts will hopefully continue to reveal detail of life in the vicinity of the 1771 structure. If interested, you can read more about that dig here.

There are many lines of inquiry I’d like to follow in an attempt to dismantle myth and learn the historically accurate stories of California’s past. That would include the history of California’s indigenous peoples. According to your friend and mine, Wikipedia, “California has the largest Native American population and largest number of distinct tribes of any US state.” Research could take some time.

And then there are seemingly endless points of interest along the way towards understanding the historical transitions between the Spanish Mission Period, Mexican California Rancho Days and the years of change when California was admitted as a free state in 1850.

What else interests me?

Well, there was this little event we call the Gold Rush? How about the Transcontinental Railroad? Westward Migration?

My stack of books and resource materials is growing at an alarming rate. There may be more to learn than I have days left, but I’m doing my best to make up for lost time.

How to begin? I enjoy learning within context so it’s field trip time!

The presidios were Spanish military installations. This may surprise some of you, and perhaps many Californians don’t know, but Spain grabbed the Pacific Ocean as “MINE.” Thanks to Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and his 1542 land-grab for Spain, California became a Spanish territory.

King Carlos III of Spain

Move forward a couple of hundred years and Spain was thinking that establishing Missions might be a good idea to continue to hold onto land. The English, French, and even Russians were showing some interest in California. Spain made a tactical decision to build the presidios, military fortresses, to oversee the mission districts and keep “others” out.

California was prime land even then!

Four presidios, San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara, were each placed approximately a mile from the shoreline–safely distanced from the threat of a cannonball lobbed from a hostile foreign warship.

Only two sections of the original Santa Barbara Presidio quadrangle remain, but the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation is responsible for overseeing restoration and repair. The Preservation group is also responsible for archaeological excavations revealing scores of authentic period artifacts. Dozens of items from recent Presidio excavations are on exhibit.

The archaeological staff has also stabilized El Cuartel, the oldest adobe in the California State Parks system. It is an original 1788 Presidio adobe designed for a military family’s housing. The next phase of the project includes seismic retrofitting.

We toured the Casa de la Guerra adjacent the presidio, built by the fifth Presidio comandante in 1819. Richard Henry Dana included a description of a wedding reception held at the Casa in 1836 for Alfred Robinson and Ana Maria Antonia de la Guerra in his book Two Years Before the Mast.

Do you have a historical era or event you’re curious about ? What’s on your field trip list?

We may not be traveling much in the next couple of months but there are some ranchos not far from home I need to explore. And my pile of bibliographic material isn’t getting any smaller. Having such a strong interest in a topic and creating a nice “home study” is a good way to focus and breathe lighter! May I suggest you plan a local field trip! Take someone with you and have fun!